February 25, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
WASHINGTON – Pharmaceutical companies have been under intense scrutiny in recent months over the high price of prescription drugs, but the industry is not sitting idly by. A series of new advertisements is telling the pharmaceutical industry’s side of the story, highlighting how drug breakthroughs are saving and improving the lives of people every day.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) recently released its “We’re Fighting Back” ad that highlights the stories of patients and researchers who have made it their mission to develop treatments for these diseases. The ad campaign, which is not only targeted at the public, but also state and federal lawmakers, features a five-year-old boy diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, as well as another youth with a rare blood cancer. PhRMA’s “We’re Fighting Back” social media ad stresses the industry’s goal of fighting back against diseases that have struck the young and old, highlighting more than 7,000 drugs being developed to combat the illnesses.
Holly Campbell, PhRMA’s senior director of communications told BioSpace the new 2016 campaign features the stories of patients as well as researchers. “This year’s advertising campaign is a several million dollar effort that utilizes the themes of hope, courage, solvable and achievable and build on last year’s focus on possible, curable and power,” Campbell said.
PhRMA’s ad comes on the heels of intense scrutiny over the price of some treatments, such as Gilead Sciences ’s blockbuster hepatitis C treatments Harvoni and Sovaldi, which have a price tag of between $84,000 and $95,000 for a 12-week regimen. Although the drugs come with extremely high price tags, Harvoni and Sovaldi have an incredibly high efficacy rate, almost becoming a cure for hepatitis C. Other companies that have become the poster children of high drug prices are Turing Pharmaceuticals, formerly helmed by the infamous Martin Shkreli, who oversaw the acquisition of a 65-year-old drug for toxoplasmosis and promptly increased the price by 5,000 percent. Canadian-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals is under fire for a price increase of two recently-acquired cardiac drugs, Nitropress and Isuprel, after the company acquired Salix Pharmaceuticals . Valeant then increased the prices for those drugs by 212 percent and 525 percent, respectively. Representatives from both Turing and Valeant appeared before Congress earlier this month to answer questions about the drug price increases.
Although well-timed to coincide with the public scrutiny, this is not the first ad campaign PhRMA has run. In 2014, the organization launched the “From Hope to Cures” campaign to highlight the value biopharmaceutical innovation provides to patients, society and the economy, Campbell said in an email.
Not only has PhRMA aired its ad, but BIO, formerly known as the Biotechnology Industry Organization, produced its own ad, called “Time is Precious.” In the one-minute spot, a voiceover talks about scientific breakthroughs that provide more than cures, but also hope and time for patients to enjoy life. In addition to the commercial, BIO also launched a companion website, TimeisPrecious.life, which presents additional resources, videos and case studies about the research being conducted by BIO’s member companies. BIO did not respond to emails from BioSpace, however Ken Lisaius, a senior vice president at BIO, told the Boston Globe earlier this month that the organization wanted the ad campaign and accompanying website to “educate the public, media, and policy makers about the value our member’s products bring the greater health care universe.”
Since the ad spots just launched earlier this month, PhRMA’s Campbell said that the organization has not yet been able to measure much feedback on the ad campaign, but she said the public response through social media sites like Facebook have been “powerful.” On the organization’s Facebook page, members of the public have shared their stories of dealing with cancer and other serious medical diagnoses, such as Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. They share stories of their diagnosis, or the diagnosis of family members and how the treatments have helped prolong their lives.
